Coming Out: Kaiba
by FallenUnicorn
Summary: Seto Kaiba learns what it is like to come out to the world, with a little bit of scandal. What will it mean for business, his relations, family? Is it good or bad? Rivalshipping - pairing Seto/Yugi.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1 - Coming Out: Yugi

Seto had just finished changing into the tight little dress he was going to wear that night for the clubbing event. He and Yugi were going out to the local gay club in town to dance their woes and worries away – however – Seto was very worried about being exposed. Nobody knew of him being gay. He was still closeted. Yet he didn't want Yugi to feel completely hindered in not being able to do anything with him, so this was the compromise: extreme drag.

Seto took a seat in a chair in front of a giant mirror in Yugi's room. Ever since they graduated high school 3 years ago, Yugi had taken over his grandfather's shop. However, business wasn't so great, and as such, asked Bakura to move in with him to help pay off the fees, through Bakura paying a slightly over-priced rent. Bakura had money, and felt he could use a little company. However this changed slightly after Marik had decided to return to Japan hooked up with Bakura. Yugi didn't mind the couple living with him – he needed the money to pay off the fees owed and he really could use the company. Also, he and Seto weren't quite at that stage yet of "living together."

Yugi entered his room carrying a large, black makeup bag, set it on the table in front of the mirror and opened it. He looked at Seto and smiled. "Ready?"

"Just let me know when it's over," Seto replied.

Yugi grinned. He started to rummage through the make-up bag and picked out a foundation that matched Seto's complexion, along with some loose powder.

"Yugi, I have a question," Seto said.

Yugi looked over at his lover with curious eyes. "Go on," he said as he was loosening the cap of the foundation and pouring some onto his hand.

"How did you...come out?"

Yugi paused for a moment with his foundation brush in hand, ready to load it. He smiled a little to himself. Seto was actually interested in his 'coming out' story, and this meant alot to him. It was like the right step forward in the relationship.

"You really want to know?" Yugi teased.

"If you're going to attack me with makeup, might as well keep me entertained," Seto replied in a flat monotone.

Yugi chuckled, and started to dab at Seto's face with foundation.

"Well, I officially came out as being gay about a year after the events of the Millennium Puzzle, you recall?" Yugi asked. Seto nodded. "The whole process started shortly after our return to Japan from Egypt. At the time I had a crush on Tea, as you well know, so I asked her out. I finally had the courage to do that, and she said yes to my surprise." Yugi smiled a little. "We started to do 'normal' dating things – go on long walks, see movies, play card games, all sorts of things. It wasn't until about three months into the relationship that things got a little bit weird." At this point Yugi frowned.

"How so" Seto asked flatly.

"Well at this point I was well under way of going through puberty. Of course, after a month of dating Tea and I had our first kiss. It was wonderful, mostly because I was so excited to be kissed by anybody. Yet I always noticed how I was never fully 'turned on,' by her, and I in part blamed this on the fact that my hormones hadn't kicked in yet, and Tea was understanding. So I waited, and, as I started to grow and transgress into being more of a man, these hormones that I was waiting for didn't quite go the direction I was expecting. I still wasn't turned on by Tea."

"Did she notice anything?"

"Of course. She was always sitting on my lap, she saw my growth spurts. She knew my hormones 'had officially come' thanks to these obvious changes. But it was around this three month mark where she asked me why I wasn't getting a 'hard-on' for her whenever she got close. I diffidently did not expect this question, I didn't even think she could notice such a small detail. However, to me it was important. I told her that of course I was attracted to her, and was 'turned on' by her...I was just more conscious about it and embarassed."

"Did she believe you?"

"Yes. She did. And I was glad. More time went on. However, as we went out, I started to notice myself...looking at guys. I didn't even realize I was doing it until some guy looked back, and winked at me...thank goodness Tea at the time didn't see the action, but it really got me thinking about my sexuality, and how it could possibly explain why I wasn't turned on by Tea. However, I wasn't ready to give up on her yet, I mean I pined after her for ages, and I really wanted to make it work. I wanted to convince myself I was straight. I wanted to convince myself I loved Tea."

"But you love me" Seto teased.

Yugi smiled and puckered his lips at Seto, "You know I do. But I'm not done with the story! Look up for me, would you?"

Seto hadn't realized that Yugi was ready to apply mascara onto his eyelashes, however, Yugi was telling a juicy story, so he obeyed.

"Not too long after did I try to go all the way with Tea. At this point I was desperate. I wanted to love Tea, I was sure I loved her. I mean, what would have changed between before and after puberty? The only thing would be these hormones kicking in and helping me be attracted to her. So I decided to test myself...we tried to go all the way." Yugi stopped and laughed a little. "Of course, it never happened. I never 'got up' if you know what I mean. I just simply wasn't attracted to vaginas."

Yugi finished the mascara and laughed a little more. He took out the blush and started to apply it to Seto's cheeks. "It was at this devastating moment that I realized that there was no way I could ever love Tea the way I wanted to. I was extremely embarrassed. However, Tea didn't seem to be offended. In fact, the next day she invited me over to talk about it."

"What did you discuss?"

"She sat me down and discussed sexuality with me, specifically homosexuality. My possibility at the time of being gay. She had noticed some of my odd behaviours, she knew I wasn't turned on, and somehow she knew I was struggling. It's amazing what some women know! I swear...anyways, she, being the good person she was, wanted to help me. We chatted, and as a result, by the end of the conversation, I walked away seriously considering homosexuality as a possibility. I needed to mull it over first before jumping to conclusions. It was in fact, a huge stepping stone in my life after all. You're all done by the way."

Seto looked in the mirror, shocked at his major transformation. He could not see himself as Seto in the mirror, but as his alter ego, Blaire Dragoon, staring straight back at him. "Thanks for doing that for me," Seto replied. He stood up, moved to Yugi's bed and sat down. He gestured for Yugi to come next to him.

Yugi followed and sat on his bed, next to Seto, curling into him. They had plenty of time before leaving, Bakura and Marik always needed to look extra-fabulous so they would take quite some time. "Tell me the rest of the story" Seto whispered into Yugi's ear.

"I went home that night, and laid in bed, thinking hard. And I came to a couple of conclusions. One being that the only reason why I liked Tea so much from before, was she fit what a stereotypical pretty girl should look like...pale skin, big boobs, skinny and kind. When I was younger I confused my platonic love and sexual love. I thought my platonic love could transform into sexual love at some point, but that never happened. Also, I wanted to fit in. Joey and Tristan were into girls, so I felt I needed to have a girl to, and Tea was just that. She was a girl I was friends with, and, viola. Platonic got confused with sexual...and the sexual never came. After this huge realization, I felt much more at ease, I felt better about who I was, and comfortable with why I wasn't attracted to Tea. Then I started to think about men, and the minute that happened, oh boy, did I ever get a hard on" Yugi giggled, and continued on, "and then I was more confident in my homosexuality. I didn't lie to myself when I said I loved Tea, of course I did, just not in that way. I needed a man. We broke up the next day, but it wasn't horrible as many think it should be, of course she and I are still great friends. In fact, after we broke up, she partially helped introduce me into the gay community. She was there for me when I got my ear pierced." Yugi touched his ear gently, where his reminder hung. He smiled. "Then came school."

"What happened at school?"

"Bakura."

"Hm?"

"Bakura had been out for quite some time apparently, and was the first kid to notice I had my ear pierced. He came right up to me, and asked if I was gay. I told him I was, being the second person I officially came out to. The moment I told him everything is just a huge blur, he dragged me to so many gay events, parties, I didn't even know Bakura knew that many people! It was like he was a completely different person in that sort of setting. In school, he was shy, studious and quiet. However, around the queer community, he is probably one of the best known people, and was definitely very loud and opinionated."  
Seto chuckled at this. "Of course he is, he is that way now."

"That is because he doesn't feel he has to hide behind anything anymore. But he is a completely separate story. So through him, I came out to the queer community. But I still hadn't 'officially' come out. The last piece of the puzzle was coming out to my grandfather. For such a long time, I was afraid to, because he was old, and had some conservative views on the way things should be."

"And?"

"And he accepted me for who I was. I was so relieved, so thankful. I felt like I had officially, and completely come out of the closet. And now, I'm happier than I could ever be."

"Hm." Seto pondered. "Your story isn't too bad."

"No, not at all."

"It seems like almost everybody here that's 'come out' hasn't had many repercussions, you, Bakura, Marik..."

"Oh don't make assumptions Seto just because it appears that way. In fact, I believe Marik had the roughest ride of us all in terms of coming out. I feel so bad for him, he went through quite a slump."

"How so?"

Yugi sighed. "Well if you want to know...promise you won't tell him I told you." As Yugi launched into the coming out of Marik.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2 - Coming Out: Marik

"Do you recall going to Egypt?" Yugi asked, as he snuggled closer into Seto. This was a rare moment for him, Seto only allowed him to get close like this in private.

"Mm," Seto replied.

"Do you recall the sort of outfit he was wearing?"

"Why would I pay attention to such a small detail like that? It was irrelevant at the time."

"But it is the beginning of the story to understand the complexity of Marik's coming out. Do you at least remember his purple midriff-bearing shirt?"

"That I do remember, only because he was the only male on board that blimp who decided to dress like a girl," Seto scoffed.

"Well, when we went to Egypt, Marik was wearing his black shirt, tan khakis and...this odd black-grey vest, I can't quite remember. Either way, it struck me as quite a straight outfit, compared to what he was wearing on your blimp."

"And?"

"And that is where the story begins. Behind that outfit. Previously, while we were battling on your blimp, he had lived his life pretty much underground, he didn't know the world above him. He didn't even know what gay, straight and lesbian was. And because of this, his sister Ishizu felt it was no threat to allow him to wear what he wanted."

"Why is Ishizu important? Why would she even care?" Seto asked flatly.

Yugi turned to face Seto, "Would you let me finish? It will make as I go along if you stopped asking so many questions, Seto." He stared at his face, thinking he had done quite a lovely job of the makeup. You couldn't even tell that it was Seto under that mask he caked on. However he had wished Seto didn't select such a name: Blaire Dragoon. Not only did it sound bad, it slightly hinted at the Blue Eyes White Dragon, which therefore would associate this drag to possibly being Seto. "You do realize that your drag identity could 'out' you?" Yugi asked.

"I will only become the female I want to become, not something you create," Seto snapped back.

"Alright, however, if someone recognizes you or puts two and two together, don't come crying to me!" Yugi teased.

"Just get on with the story."

"Oh! Right." Yugi turned to snuggle back into Seto's long, warm embrace. "Ishizu is homophobic. And therefore, while they lived underground and Marik was in bliss, he could do whatever. However...the moment they started to live above aground, according to Marik...she started to 'suggest' things to him. Such as to avoid wearing his favourite purple shirt. And perhaps try and look more 'manly' to attract the women. So, Marik, thinking his sister had good intentions, asked her to help him. And there you have it, arm and wrist bands gone, neck bands gone, all replaced with this dull, unfashionable grey vest. She tried to shield him as much as she could from being gay."

"I'm confused. Did she even know he was gay?"

"Oh right! No no, she didn't know at all. But she was speculating based on Marik's behaviours, how he dressed and such, and it scared her. So she reacted. Unfortunately. At the time Marik thought nothing of it."

Suddenly there was a very loud thumping of somebody running up the stairs followed by a slamming of a door. Shortly there was the soft sound of somebody gently running up the stairs, and as they reached the top Bakura yelled, "Mariiiiiiiiik! Give me my shirt back! I want to wear that tonight you little bugger!"

"You'll have to come and take it from me then!" a muffled, Mariks voice replied.

Seto and Yugi could hear Bakura knocking on the closed door that contained Marik. "Open up! Or do I have to force myself in?"

"Ooooh wouldn't that be SO nice!" Marik giggled.

Finally they heard the opening of a door, the shuffle of feet, followed by a swift slam and a lock.

"Anyways!" Yugi said, trying to get back on track. "Marik decided to move here, to Japan. Apparantly his sister told him to 'find a girlfriend,' so that was what Marik had in mind. Come to Japan, settle down, get a girlfriend. Alright. Keep in mind he still didn't know what gay was. So he came here, met all of us, and of course, he didn't find any of the women attractive. Now, all this time, Bakura of course, found Marik to be the hottest thing on the planet, and wanted him. He pined after him, tease him, play with his hair, flirt, all of that. Marik thought it was completely 'friend' behaviour, thanks to his lovely sister sheltering him so much. Then came that one night of the party we had all those months ago, where..."

Suddenly Yugi was interrupted by an extremely loud moan followed by rhythmic thumping from the neighbouring wall. "Of course," Yugi muttered, "they just had to go into the bathroom." The moaning continued along with the thumping, and Yugi got up from Seto's safe arms, walked to the wall, and banged on it. "Can't you guys wait until after tonight? It's too early!" Yugi teased as he yelled across the barrier.

"There is no such thing as 'too early sex,' you wanker!" Bakura yelled back.

"Well do you mind going elsewhere?"

"Can we come into your room and do a three-way?"

"No!" Yugi laughed, "No, go downstairs on the couch or something, just not there where I can obviously here you."

Shortly after they heard some ruffling, a door opening, and the sound of Marik and Bakura slowly making their way downstairs.

"Sometimes I wonder about them..." Yugi muttered. Kaiba had reopened his arms, waiting for Yugi to sit back down, "you were just getting to a good part, I want to know what happened at this party" Seto asked sarcastically.

Yugi leaped back into his lovers arms and nestled in. "You were actually there, but I doubt you remember much of it. Basically, we were all drinking, and Bakura, being able to tolerate his alcohol, remembers the most of it. But I do remember this. We were playing truth or dare. Marik had passed out on the couch, he was extremely tired that day for some reason and took a couple of sips of his vodka and just passed out. Anyways, we were playing, and Bakura was up. He wanted a dare. So, I dared him to go kiss Marik laying there on the couch. Bakura, being the way he is, smiled and got up, crawled over the arm of the chair straight onto Marik, and started to make out with him. Of course, this startled Marik very much, for he was asleep and not expecting such a thing!" Yugi was laughing at the memory, he would never forget the face Marik made when he woke up, that face of complete shock, surprise, and what-the-fuck-are-you-doing look.

"Are you done laughing?" Seto asked.

"Hah..yes, well, anyways after Marik woke up, he found he liked it, and continued to make out with Bakura! And, as always, Bakura took him by the hand, led him upstairs, and shut the door. I'm not sure what happened behind that door, but ever since that night they hooked up." 

"So...did he ever 'come out?"

"Well...once he was dating Bakura he was already 'outed' so to speak. He never explicitly said anything, but completely accepted being gay. Bakura taught him everything about the queer community, and Marik was extremely happy with who he was, happy to have found himself. However, he needed to come out to his sister, which is the whole point of this story."

"So what happened?"

"Well, Ishizu visited Marik once. Marik had told her he had 'found someone' but didn't tell her who. During the three days she visited, Bakura basically had to dress up in drag and pretend he was Mariks "girlfriend." Bakura only saw it as an excellent opportunity to practice his acting skills, to see if he could fool regular people into thinking he was a girl. He also respected Marik's decision very much, and understood why. Marik understood why his sister wanted him to get a girlfriend, and all of her actions, he basically put two and two together. You know, he's sometimes a really bright guy."

"When he's not being an idiot that is" Seto remarked.

"Hah! That is true! And he came out to Ishizu during trip number two. He was visiting for the whole week, and his plan was to play it 'straight' for the first few days, then come out. He told me that while he was there he still pretended that Bakura was his girlfriend, and when they would chat on skype, he'd use a headset and close his door, avoiding saying anything really 'gay.' However, he came out to his sister. "

"How tough was it?"

"Extremely though for him. The moment he came out his sister didn't acknowledge he existed. She completely abandoned him. He finished the trip, and left coming back very depressed. The original plan was Ishizu would come back with him, however she didn't. Odion did though. It was amazing how supportive of Marik he was. It was after he came back we went into a very dark period."

"I recall there being something wrong with Marik."

"Something was wrong with him, he was depressed." Yugi sighed. "Bakura and I would watch him, try to talk to him, he seemed disinterested in anything. Even Odion tried to talk to him. Imagine loosing someone you loved your whole life, someone who tried to protect you, try to save you from yourself once, suddenly turn on you and cut off all communications. To get to the chase though, Bakura told me he once found Marik in their room, knife in hand..."

"He tried to kill himself? What a low move" Seto retorted.

"Look who's speaking," Yugi remarked. "Thankfully, Bakura caught him in time before he even tried anything. Bakura told me Marik didn't want to be taken to the hospital so as a compromise, Bakura was with him 24/7, and if Bakura needed to leave for a few seconds, I would watch Marik. It was a really interesting change too, Bakura had locked up the whole house. Anything Marik cold feasibly kill himself with, was padlocked, and he had the key. So if I wanted to cut up some meat, I had to ask Bakura for the key."

"Don't you think that was a little overkill? I actually remember that."

"No, no I don't think so. Bakura just loved Marik very much, and would have hated to loose him. Marik is his other half, he can't bear to loose that. Eventually though, Marik came out of it, realizing just how much he really was loved, and came to. Odion stayed the entire time, having to re-book his flight, just to make sure Marik was alright, and to show that he still cared. Marik was very grateful for Odion, and of course, still talks to him. He is still upset about his sister, but he said it's her choice and it is really quite a shame. Well, he still gets emotional about the situation if you talk to him about it, so...yeah. That's basically his story."

"Intriguing. I didn't realize Marik went through so much."

"No, but I am glad he is still with us and as gay as can be." Yugi leaned in to kiss Seto lightly on the shoulder, afraid to ruin is beautiful make up job. "Now that I know yours and Marik's story," Seto said, "I wonder how Bakura came out."

Yugi giggled. "Oh he never came out really. He was born out!" Yugi laughed at this, "But!" he said, "If you really want to know his story, it might be best to ask Bakura himself!"

Yugi and Seto hadn't realize Bakura was already standing in their now opened door, with a little smile playing at his lips, "Ask me what?"

Bakura looked enormous in the doorway with his 5-inch heeled Lady Gaga-esque shooes on, and a general Lady Gaga look to him. Ever since Gaga came into existence, Bakura would do drag shoes as her, or dress up in similar outfits, connecting as a little monster.

"Don't you ever do anything other than Lady Gaga?" Seto asked snidely.

"Oh of course, but you know Gaga is AMAZING and I've got the mighty hair to do it, I don't even need a wig!" Bakura said, while whipping his hair around. "Was that all you wanted to ask? That really wasn't much of a question."

"No...but I was wondering. What is your 'coming out' story?"

"Oh!" Bakura smiled wide, "I suppose we have time for that, it is awfully early to get going. However, I came up here to ask you, have you seen Marik's shoes? He seems to have misplaced them!"


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3 – Coming Out: Bakura

"Which ones?" Yugi asked. Marik had many, many shoes. Bakura needed to be more specific.

"Oh! The ones that sort of look like mine, except gold," Bakura responded, coming further into Yugi's room to show off his shoes. Yugi looked at the shoes, remembering Marik did have a pair very similar, the three of them bought them at the mall about a week ago, came home and...

"Oh! They're still in my closet. Sorry about that, I'll go grab them," Yugi remembered, dashing towards his closet. He rifled through some things until finally pulling out a pair of high-heeled, twisted, sparkling gold shoe. He handed them to Bakura who had now come into Yugi's room and sat on the end of his bed, with Seto sitting at the head. Seto had closed his arms, since there was now "company" in their presence. There would be no further cuddling or touching until the reached the club.

As Yugi handed the shoes to Bakura, Bakura yelled, "Marik we found your shoes! They were hiding in Yugi's closet the whole time!" Bakura chuckled, "he'll be here any moment, I think he's still getting dressed."

Yugi noticed Bakura was holding a drink in his hand, that reeked of alcohol. "Goodness Bakura, drinking already? We haven't even gotten to the club yet!" Yugi exclaimed.

"It's called pre-drinking you dork. And I've still got my wits about me. Remember, I'm British, I can tolerate alcohol, much, MUCH better than you ever could." Bakura stuck out his tounge and took a sip, his face flushing slightly. "Mm!" Bakura exclaimed through his sip, "Marik, here are your shoes!"

Marik was standing in the doorway of Yugi's room, leaning on it slightly. He smiled and walked towards the shoes, and grabbed them from Bakura, "Thanks, fluffy-kins" he teased. As Marik approached Yugi noticed he smelled slightly of alcohol, and it suddenly hit him as to why Marik was acting especially like an idiot tonight, "Bakura how much did you give him to drink?"

"I can still think ya know!" Marik exclaimed, "Just a little tipsy is all" and he fell onto the bed next to Bakura, nestling his head into him.

"Not much," Bakura said, "Same thing as what I've got. He only had one."

"Let me try that," Yugi asked reaching his hand out towards the drink.  
Bakura smiled, and handed it over. The moment the intoxicating drink hit Yugi's mouth, Yugi's frowned and forced one sip down. "Exactly how much alcohol is in there Bakura? It tastes awfully strong!"

"Well, not alot. I'm on my second, and look at me!"  
"Yes but Marik isn't you."

"Well, he's dating me. So he'll have to get used to it! He'll sober up before we leave. I have a fabulous story to tell, remember?"

Seto had now sat up, intent on listening to what Bakura had to say. "Well, get on with it, some of us don't have all night," he said curtly.

"Hm, very well," Bakura said taking one more sip, "But it's not much of a coming out story, I'll tell you. I never really confessed to anybody I was gay, I've just been gay my whole life."

"Then just tell us your 'story."

"Very well. Lets see, well I guess I could start by saying that ever since I was very young, I found men attractive. I would always ask my mummy and daddy why a boy and girl would always get married in the movies – why couldn't two boys get married? It just didn't make alot of sense to me. So, my parents told me that in order to have a child you needed a boy and a girl...of course I kept asking so many questions like why couldn't two boys have a child? I think they kinda got it from early on that I wasn't going to be straight, but that was good for them because they started to adjust early, taking in the 'warning signs' so to speak!"

"Were they at least supportive?"

"Extremely. When I got to the age of puberty, of course I had taken health classes and now understood why you needed a boy and a girl to make a baby. But, my parents, being the wonderful beings they are, God bless their souls, told me that sometimes two women or two men could love each other very very much, and that was ok! It was called being gay for me, lesbian for women, bisexual for both. So they told me that I could make the decision of who I wanted to date, and just because everybody else was dating a girl didn't mean I had to. But if I wanted to, I could."

"Interesting."

"It was. But at school many people didn't take too kindly for me. I asked many straight men out, and as a result got beat up alot. However, that didn't put a damper on me. Alot of kids told me that I should be asking girls out, and not boys. I just told them that 'My mummy and daddy said it's ok to like other men though, and that's good enough for me!' And it was! It didn't matter what the other kids said. What my parents said was true, and therefore I didn't veer from my sexuality. I knew deep down inside that I was born gay, and that's just the way it was."

"This pretty much sounds like it's going to be your whole story."

"Unfortunately, no. See, I started living on my own a long time ago..because of what my parents did. My father went on alot of trips as did my mother, so they would set up an apartment for me so I could stay in one place and go to school. Well...of course one day I got the Millennium Ring and life suddenly became one huge blur for a couple of years. That bloody spirit trapped me in my own mind, I don't really recall much of what happened."

"But you're free now," Marik said, slightly sobering up. He reached out for Bakura's drink, who handed it to him. Marik took one sip, handed it back, then nestled into Bakura again.

"Bakura, do you really think Marik should be drinking any more?" Yugi asked, concerned that if Marik kept drinking, he would be wasted before even getting to the club.

"I know what I'm doing Yugi, trust me, I know his limits. He probably won't be allowed much more anyways," Bakura responded. "But yes, I'm free now! Anyways, I distinctly remember before getting the ring I got my ear pierced, simply because being gay was so important to me. But, after I got the ring, things started to get weird. I became really shy, and introverted because I was afraid of what the spirit would do to people. As a result, I became a loner, and essentially became 'closeted.'"

"So you do have a coming out story so to speak," Seto remarked.

"Kinda! I guess you're right, because when I transferred to your school, I never told anybody I was gay, let alone talk to alot of people, out of fear of the spirit. The spirit really controlled me. So if I kept hidden away, avoiding people...then I wouldn't have to deal with the spirit doing his crazy things. Nobody knew I was gay. Alot of girls tried to ask me out. Hah! Oh dear, that was quite funny. I rejected all of them, however, I still hid my earring because sometimes if a girl finds out your gay..."

"Then want you to be your gay best friend," Yugi chimed in.

"Exactly. So to avoid that I just rejected them. Well the spirit knew I was gay too, and shockingly could care less...mostly because in this new environment nobody knew a thing about me so he could create my identity for me. I hated it. However, once it was all done and over, there were a couple of things on my mind."

"Getting back your gay status!"

"Yes! I hated the closeted feeling. So I went around finally telling people I was gay. There was no spirit controlling me, I could do what I wanted. I started to do drag again, started dating around again, it was wonderful."

"Hold on, when did you start doing drag?" Seto asked.

"Oh goodness, I started when I was...I want to say 15? Yeah, around there. And I was bloody good at it too!" Bakura giggled at the memories. "Speaking of which, Yugi, when are you going to do drag again? You're mighty good at it but we rarely see you perform! I mean even Kaiba is dragged up right now, but not for performance purposes, but still!"

Yugi flushed, "I'm not sure to be honest, when it comes to that I still get really embarrassed on a stage, if anything that's always been with me."

Bakura pouted, "Well do it with me next weekend. I'm doing Lady Gaga."

"Again? You've done that so many times!"

"But it's so easy – and you can imitate her dance moves way better than I can."

"But you're the best drag in town!"

"Why thank you, but you can shake that ass of yours quite well. Come do it with me, Marik, you and I will imitate various costumes of hers from different songs. We'll do something like a 'Bad Romance,' 'Poker Face,' and 'Paparazzi' mix. It'll be fun!"

Seto nudged Yugi, "I would like to see that. Do it. I'll come."

Yugi blushed quite deeply and gave in, "Fine!" he said, "but only because Seto said he would come!" Yugi was grinning wide now.

"Excellent! Then we'll work on our performance this week and drag it up next weekend, I'll get us a slot. Anyways, back to my story. I was going to tell you guys the second part of my 'getting back my gay,' although nobody really knows about it...except for Marik. And I'm willing to share it with you guys if you can keep it a secret."

Seto and Yugi looked at each other, "I'm sure we can," Yugi responded.

Bakura looked at Seto, "And you?"

"Sure." Seto replied curtly.

Bakura took the last sip of his drink and set the cup down. "Very well," he said, while standing up. He turned around and lifted his shirt up to expose his back. "I got this almost immediately after we returned from Egypt."

On Bakura's lower back was a mix of black swirls sprinkled with black stars, and at the center on his spine, were two black male symbols intertwined, side by side. "You got a tramps tamp" Yugi asked, impressed.

"Yeah, I sure did. It was to symbolize my gayness to myself, and, to be honest, I was a bit of a slut. I slept around alot before I met Marik, and I guess I wanted a symbol of that? I was young, I was stupid, but it's important to me still. What can I say, I'm a gay slut!" Bakura laughed, and sat back down onto the bed, wrapping his arm around a waiting Marik.

"If nobody knows about it, how the hell did you keep it a secret from all of those people you slept with?" Seto asked.

"Easy. Cover it with bandages, say I got hurt, you know nobody would be surprised if I said that at all, I've been in the hospital a couple of times. Or the room would be dark, nobody would know in those conditions. Or, I would simply keep my shirt on and try to stay 'on the bottom.' Those were usually only for quickies. But that's all I've really got to say. In the end I still wound up as the well known, gay slut. Even without my tattoo, alot of people knew me for sleeping around. I was still shy in school, mostly because I didn't know anybody and it was hard to start talking to people after such a long time forcing yourself not too. But in the queer community I don't know! I just bloody opened up, I felt so comfortable with them. It was amazing! But yes, that is my 'story.'"

"Did anybody beat you up in high school when you came out?"

"Not really. I mean we were all older when we went back so I had some status. And alot of people knew I was shy so they felt sorry enough for me. But I think by the time we graduated I had become outspoken and crazy enough that people were just afraid to beat me up, haha! I mean I did come out of my shell, heck I think I did a drag performance for our senior year talent show...do you recall? Before that I was receiving some hostile feelings from guys, but it didn't bother me too much, they didn't beat me up. However after that talent show...I fooled so many of them that I was a girl, that at the end when I told them my name and who I was, they were just utterly shocked. I got so many cat calls that night, I even flirted with some straight men in the audience! But, after that night, since alot of them had admitted to their buddies during my performance that, 'oh she's hot!' and that 'she' wasn't a 'she' at all but was really a 'he,' they just couldn't bring the courage up to beat me up. They were attracted to me for a brief moment in time! It was fan-fucking-amazing. Oh look at me, it's getting late and I'm rambling away, we should get going!"

At this point Marik had sobered up a bit more, relaxing into normal idiocy, or at least what was typical for him. Marik put his shoes on, and stood up, holding Bakura's hand. Bakura stood up with him, and as he got up, gently kissed him on the mouth. "I love you," Bakura whispered to Marik, who smiled and whispered back, "I love you too," while they touched foreheads.

Yugi watched the two of them with longing eyes. How he wished he could do that with Seto so easily in front of people. In front of his friends. In front of these two blokes who knew Seto was gay, that wasn't even so bad.

"So, when are you thinking of coming out, Seto?" Yugi asked gently.

"When I'm ready. I'm not ready at this point in time, but at some point. I'm not sure when," Seto replied.

Yugi nodded, "well, when the time is right for you it'll come. It's sometimes not always easy. But you already have the support of your little brother, so in essence you are partially 'out."

"I guess, but I'm not out to the rest of the world like you three are."

"Hey guys we should get going," Bakura said, "the line will be getting long, and Marik is pretty sobered up now."

"You're right, let's get going," Yugi said while standing up.

Seto stood up and all of them exited Yugi's room, and headed downstairs. Yugi grabbed his leater silver spiked jacket and put it on, along with his knee-high 2-inch heeled boots.

Just as they were exiting the door, Yugi said, "Didn't Serenity just come out not too long ago?"

"Oh you're right! She did! But what was nice was she hooked up with some Canadian chick, so sweet! I'm glad she found someone," Bakura exclaimed.

"I can only imagine how Tristan and Duke feel, they have nothing to fight over!"

"Well, they have each other!" Marik joked, arm in arm with Bakura. They all laughed.

"Those two are some of the straightest men I've seen, we'll see what's in store for them down the road," Bakura giggled.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4 – Fuzzy Memories: Clubbing

Seto, Yugi, Marik and Bakura all walked towards the club that was 4 blocks away from Yugi's gameshop. As they approached they could see a small line forming at the entrance. "We might be in luck!" Bakura yelled excitedly, jumping slightly, "the line isn't too long! Perhaps it isn't crammed inside! Eep!" Marik pulled him down from his excitement and told him, "Hold up there! Don't use up all your energy before getting in!"

"Seto," Yugi said as he turned his head to face Seto, who was now Blaire Dragoon. "Let me hear your drag voice, one more time, just to make sure you've got it still."

"You really need to stop worrying about me, I can take care of myself!" Seto piped in an attempted-high pitch voice, and a flip of his hair. Yugi smiled, he could tell Seto was trying to add a touch of feminine sass, and it was odd to hear his voice high pitched like that. "Remember, you are to address me as Blaire, got it?" Seto reminded Yugi.

"Of course, of course...Blaire," Yugi teased, still thinking the whole name ridiculous. He would make sure he wouldn't drink too much tonight for fear of accidentally calling Blaire 'Seto.' But Yugi knew the code. When a drag queen was in costume, you always referred to her by her stage name, never the real name.

They reached the entrance of the club relatively fast, and each of them gave their ID's to the security guard up front and paid their cover. Yugi was surprised how much caution Seto took in showing his ID, he wanted to avoid getting in trouble with the law if that ever did occur, being the CEO of a giant company, so he flashed his normal ID's, fully knowing he was taking a risk of being exposed. However, Seto wasn't dumb. He hadn't quite put on his bright blue wig yet, and wore one of his long trench coats to cover the dress. He planned to head straight to the bathroom with Yugi, once in the bathroom he would take his trench coat off, give it to Yugi, and put his wig on and adjust it accordingly, and perhaps touch up any parts of his makeup he had smudged. He could handle that much at least, it was good practice.

The whole plan went surprisingly well, from security guard, bathroom, coat check, and Blaire Dragoon was fully disguised. Nobody suspected a thing. Yugi waited for Seto right outside the bathroom, and upon his emergence he cooed, "Lookin' hot Blaire!" Yugi himself was wearing his knee-high 2-inch boots, leather pants and a fishnet tank top, along with his black collar choker. Seto glanced at Yugi and replied, "you look pretty gay yourself."

Yugi chuckled, "That's the whole point! Come, let us get a drink." They headed to the bar in the club, and of course, Marik and Bakura were there already. Marik had become immediately tipsy again, face flushed and groping Bakura at the bar. Bakura didn't mind this one bit, he was still on his first drink unable to quite feel the effects, but completely submitted.

"I wonder how many drinks it takes for Bakura to get even tipsy," Seto commented.

"Oh, it takes a few, really strong shots, and he'll be tipsy. He knows what he's doing," Yugi replied. Yugi ordered them some drinks and as they came, he gave one to Seto, raised his drink, and said, "Cheers! To a successful drag!" Seto lifted his glass and clinked it onto Yugi's, and they drank. "Ah, there we go," Seto said, peering back over at Bakura, "he seems to be loosing it."

At this point Bakura was not only flushed, but starting to sway slightly. Yugi laughed, "Yup! He's tipsy alright. He'll probably stop drinking or have just one more, but either way it's going to get pretty crazy here with the two of them like that."

Seto started to feel the effects of the alcohol loosening him up on the inside. He felt free, uninhibited by the world. He wasn't so worried, relaxed to be at the club. What sort of drink had Yugi ordered? Either way, before he knew it Yugi was right, it did get crazy at the bar. Marik was lying on the counter with Bakura on top of him, groaning and making out with him. Many people were cat calling and cheering them on. Of course, they were the gayest couple in town, it was expected. However Bakura seemed to ignore the fact that people were watching, and was already slipping his hands down Marik's pants when the bar tender had to separate them. "I really like what I'm seeing boys, but I can't have a mess on my counter tonight – sorry!" the bar tender said as he gently pushed them. "However," he whispered to them, "you can probably get away with it on the dance floor."

Marik and Bakura grinned giddily and skipped to the dance floor and immediately started to grind and make out. It was incredible at how easily they were turned on. Yet again, they were both tipsy. Seto himself wasn't quite feeling like himself, either. Yet again, he was pretending to be someone else. "Yugi!" he exclaimed, face flushed and slightly happier than normal, "let's dance."

Yugi put his drink down and took Seto's hand as they entered the dance floor. It was slightly awkward trying to grind, with Seto being so tall (and even taller in his boots), but they managed. Yugi let Seto kiss him, he was too afraid to kiss back, in fear of ruining the make-up he had applied on Seto's face. Suddenly some people tapped on Seto's shoulder.

Seto turned around and found a couple of drag queens staring at him. "You're new!" one of them exclaimed. "What's your name, darling?"

"Blaire Dragoon," Seto chimed, extending his hand for a delicate handshake.

The drag queen extended a hand back and shook, "I'm Ruth McKinky, and this is my friend June Wildbed, pleasure to meet you." They all shook hands, and Ruth asked, "If I may ask, how did you come up with your name? Usually they're puns or something just wickedly awesome."  
Seto smiled, the alcohol had really taken a toll on him. How much did he have to drink? He wasn't sure. Or how many drinks did Yugi order? Although he remembered ordering a couple himself. It was all too fuzzy. "Well," Seto slurred, "Blaire is..."

"Ah Blaire, maybe you should leave it to be a surprise!" Yugi exclaimed, grabbing Seto's arm.

"Ah! And who is just this handsome young man here?" Ruth asked, gawking at Yugi.

"My name is Yugi! Sometimes I go by Magi Crux." Yugi winked at Ruth.

"Oh dear! Now I recognize you! Wow you haven't been Magi in a while, what a change!"

"Not a problem, it's been a while actually, next weekend though, I'll become Magi again."

"Excellent! I'll be here to watch!" The whole time Ruth's slightly more sober friend June was thinking to himself, "Blaire Dragoon...hmm well obviously hinted at a Dragon. Is it related to some sort of Duel Monsters card by chance?" she asked.

Before Seto could respond, Yugi said, "you know I think Blaire forgot something at the bar, we should go find it." Seto was slightly too care that they were blowing off the two drags, "Well it was nice meeting you!" Seto chimed at them as they ran away.

Yugi felt his stomach drop. Seto just used his normal voice. 'Crap!' Yugi thought, 'I sure hope they don't recognize him...or worse somebody else in the crowd recognize him.'

Yugi was too distracted to notice that Seto's call had indeed turned some heads in the crowd.

The approached the bar and sat down. Yugi shouldn't have let Seto drink so much. But Seto insisted. And when Seto didn't get his way he demanded and did it anyways. 'Well,' Yugi thought, 'It is his own fault, I tried my best. If anything this will all be some blurry memory to him that he'll sleep away.'

"Yuuuuuugiii," Seto purred, wrapping an arm around Yugi. "Kiss me."

Yugi laughed, "you really are drunk aren't you?"

Seto smiled, "Well I don't know how much I had to drink, but, hah, I guess I feel kinda tipsy."

Yugi laughed, "You truly are a drunken fool. You do realize you used your normal voice out there, do you?"

"Oops!" Seto covered his mouth, "Oh well, they won't know it's me, I look way to pretty to be Seto, I'm Blaire Dragoon, sexiest girl on the planet. And you Yugi, are the sexiest boy, now come and kiss me."

"I don't think that would be such a wise idea..."

"Nonesense!" Seto had used his normal voice at this point, forcing himself upon Yugi. Yugi had no choice but to give in.

Suddenly there was a flash. Or two. Coming from the crowd.

'Crap.' Yugi thought. 'This might not bode well.'


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5 – Media: Outed

Seto slowly opened his eyes. It took him a moment to realize where he was. As he opened them he was definitely in a bed, that was at least a good sign. But who's bed? As he further opened his eyes he recognized the blue tint of his walls, as he moved his head slowly he saw his night table, with a picture of Mokuba on it, and next to Mokuba's picture was a framed image of Yugi looking into the distance. Where was Yugi? Seto sat up in bed, hair dishevelled, and bags under his eyes.

"Ngghh..." Seto mumbled, putting a hand to his head. It hurt like hell. What had he done last night? He remembered he went clubbing but most of it was a blur. Either way he decided he needed to get up and out of bed. As he stood up he realized his legs ached terribly. What the hell had he done? "Oh right..." he mumbled, hand still rubbing his sore head. He remembered the high heels he wore, and being unaccustomed to them, his legs would hurt, Yugi warned him of this.

Seto slowly made his way downstairs in his mansion, and to the kitchen. He found Yugi sitting at the table with Mokuba. Yugi had been kind enough to make Mokuba a breakfast, even though Mokuba was plenty old enough to make it himself. Yugi cold cook though, Mokuba, not so much.

"Morning Seto," Yugi said as Seto stood there, looking ghastly. "You look a bit hung-over," he remarked, giggling slightly. Yugi didn't drink too much the night before, he was fine. And he was sure thankful he wasn't in Seto's condition, he had been there done that. This meant Yugi would be able to spend the day at the mansion caring for Seto. He was going to enjoy this thouroughly.

"Morning..." Seto replied.

"Look Seto!" Mokuba said, "I made this!" he said pointing to his breakfast. "Yugi helped me, he taught me how to make eggs! "

Suddenly the smell of Mokuba's breakfast hit Seto. His stomach lurched. He could feel the bile of last night creeping it's way up his throat, as he darted from the kitchen to the nearest bathroom, ignoring the pain in his legs.

Yugi looked at Mokuba, "I better go take care of him! You stay here and eat your breakfast."

Mokuba stopped eating, looking slightly pale, "Seto's not sick is he? I mean...we won't get sick?" Yugi had forgotten Mokuba's fear of germs, and remembered that Seto rarely drinks to that extent, and when he had in the past Mokuba was never around to see the hang-over. More or less though, Seto was usually at Yugi's place dealing with the hangover.

"Oh heaven's no Mokuba, you have nothing to worry about," Yugi chuckled. "It's called a hang-over. When you drink to much alcohol it can make you sick, but only you, you can't catch it from anybody else at all. Drinking alcohol is kinda like a poison to the body, so it needs to get rid of it if there's too much."

Mokuba relaxed and colour returned to his face, "Oh, I see! So I guess Seto had too much to drink then, I've heard of that. Ok, yeah, you better make sure he's ok!" he said.

Yugi headed to the bathroom, and upon entering he found Seto on the ground, draped over the toilet, head turned inwards towards the toilet. He heard Seto moan and cringe slightly, then suddenly he wretched into the toilet, shaking his body. "Oh dear," Yugi said, walking over to Seto, and combing his fingers through Seto's hair, "that bad huh?"

Seto simply moaned as an answer. Yugi felt bad for him, but at the same time excited. He could stay over! "When you're done we can move you up to your room, and I can check on you periodically. And keep Mokuba entertained for the day. How does that sound?"

Seto lifed his head from the toilet. He was starting to feel better, he no longer felt he needed to be draped over the toilet. He placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder, slowly stood up, and flushed. "That would be nice," Seto mumbled, as his arm slowly collapsed over Yugi's shoulders. Yugi couldn't help but smile, he was excited to play the "doctor" or "caretaker" or whatever, he was going to care for Seto! Of course, usually hangover's cured themselves by midday or so...but hopefully he could stay longer.

They slowly made their way back upstairs and into Seto's room. Yugi helped Seto back into bed, and covered him with his sheets. "I'll come check on you periodically," Yugi said, and patted Seto's arm gently. He walked out of the room, making sure to close the door gently. As he returned downstairs he found Mokuba had finished his breakfast and putting his dishes away. "Hey Yugi!" he said, "Can we play Guitar Hero?"

"I don't think that would be such a good idea!" Yugi laughed. "Your brother has a mighty headache, and that would only make it worse."

"We could use headphones!"

Yugi thought for a moment. "That wouldn't be such a bad idea! I guess we could then, so long as the noise doesn't reach Seto."

"No problem!" Mokuba dashed to the basement and Yugi followed. Mokuba set up the system, and pulled out two sets of headphones with extra long cords. He plugged everything in, and they started to play.

As they played Yugi felt a vibration in his pant pocket. He gestured at Mokuba to pause the game, and Mokuba paused it. It was Bakura calling. "Hey!" Yugi exclaimed into his phone, "What's up?"

"Yugi! Not much, just getting up is all," Bakura replied. "How are you all feeling?"

"I'm feeling pretty good, I hardly had anything to drink. Seto on the other hand has a terrible hang over, probably good enough for the two of us. How about you?"

"Oh I'm just smashing! You know me, I don't really get hangovers. Marik has a slight headache but he's faring better than I thought. I must be rubbing off on him!"

"Figuratively and literally...anyways I'm going to be at the Kaiba mansion for a while"  
"I figured you would, anyways I have something to tell you."  
"Hm? What is it?"

"Well the newspaper came out this morning...and...ooh! Heeeyyy"

Yugi laughed, "Marik doing something stupid?"  
"No, Marik needs to learn to keep his hands to himself!" As Bakura said this, Yugi cold hear a slight slap and a "ah!" in the background, followed by some giggling. "Anyways, what I was going to tell you is you should check the newspaper. There's something in it I think you should check out. It'll be easy to find...it's on the front cover."

Yugi frowned and put took off the guitar controller. "What is the headlining story?"

"Well...it's about you and Seto...they're on to him."

Yugi's heart dropped to his stomach. "Thanks for telling me, I'll go check it out right now."

"No problem. See you when you get home!"

"See ya," Yugi hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. "Mokuba I'll be right back."

"Something happen?" Mokuba asked.

"Yeah...I just need to check something out. I'll be back in a minute. I just need to know where do you put the newspaper?"

"Oh I brought it in already, I didn't look at it. It should be on the family room table upstairs."

"Thanks!" Yugi said as he was running upstairs. He found the family room and the newspaper, unfolded it and read the headlining title.

SETO KAIBA: DRAG QUEEN IN DISGUISE?

Underneath the headlining title was a photo of him and Seto, kissing at the bar from last night.

'Fuck.' Yugi thought. 'This is NOT going to go over well.'


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6 – Hangover: Getting Better

Yugi decided to check on Seto to see how he was doing. He quietly creeped up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. Upon reaching Seto's room he opened the door, shut it quietly and tip-toed over to Seto's bed. Yugi came to his bed, Seto had faced away from the door, so Yugi wasn't quite sure if he was asleep or awake. He sat on the edge, brought his legs up and leaned over Seto to see if he was asleep or not.

Seto had brought the covers up to his face, covering only part of it. The other part was dug into his pillow, however, enough space was left so he could breathe enough fresh air to get by. "Oh dear," Yugi mumbled under his breath, "must be that bad, huh?"

He could feel Seto starting to shift under the covers. Seto moaned and turned to face Yugi. "You have no idea," he mumbled, half groaning. Yugi noticed in the darkness that Seto still had immense bags under his eyes, and quite a bit of pain was evident through his facial expressions. Somewhere halfway between on the verge of being ill and physical pain.

"How are you feeling?" Yugi asked, stroking Seto's hair.

Seto groaned. "I think I may...nghh...need to go to the bathroom again..." he responded, with a hand partly covering his mouth. He had been trying to keep it down for the past half-hour, and he felt he might no longer be able to. It was going to be a long day, he just knew it.

"Let's set you up in the bathroom then, and just get it over with, ok?" Yugi said gently, continuing to stroke Seto's hair. Seto started to make the motion to get up, and Yugi moved to allow him to get out of bed. Seto put his arm around Yugi's shoulders again, and got up slowly. Thankfully Seto had a bathroom attached to his bedroom, being in such a large house, it seemed every bedroom had a bathroom. They slowly made their way over, and upon reaching the toilet, Seto placed a hand on the top of it, leaning forward, other hand holding his stomach and wretching into the toilet. Yugi could simply stand and watch, rubbing his back or running his fingers through Seto's hair.

"I am never drinking that much again...nggh," Seto managed to splurt out before another episode.

Yugi looked at him worriedly, "No, I really should have kept a better eye on you. I tried to get you to stop but I should have been more forceful. Really it's partly my fault...but on the other side I have never seen you drink that much..."

After Seto finished his next episode of wretching he stood up to his full height, flushed the toilet and looked at Yugi, "I am slightly sensitive to alcohol, I should know better. Today is going to be one hell of a long day, normally it takes a half a day for me to get over it but I think today...today might be all day..." Seto said, getting lost in his thoughts, "anyways" he said coming too, "what I was going to say was...was...it's not your fault I drank so much. I trust you, I know you probably asked me to stop. Knowing myself I can get pretty rowdy when drunk, I did this to myself, I'll take the blame."

Yugi was astounded. Was Seto actually owning up to his actions? Was he actually admitting that his hangover was indeed his own wrong doing? It was shocking! Yugi smiled, and rubbed Seto's arm, only just in time for Seto to grab his stomach again and wretch into the toilet.

"I think you should set up a camp in here for the day, I don't want you having to force yourself to keep it down if it's preventing you from sleeping. Here, I'll grab a blanket, I'll stay with you for a bit," Yugi said.

When Seto finished he finally stood up again, and murmured, "No...no I think I am fine now. I think it's done. I feel pretty emptied out." He paused for a moment, feeling ill again but only resulted in dry heaving. "Yup," he chuckled, "I'm empty. It's safe. Just don't give me anything to drink or eat for a while. I need sleep."

They made their way back to Seto's bed and Yugi 'tucked' him in. Yugi stayed behind a little, cuddling with his lover until he fell sleep. Only when Seto's breathing pattern changed from somewhat quick breaths to deep, long, slow breaths did Yugi know he was fast asleep. He would return downstairs to find Mokuba and continue to keep him entertained.

'It's probably best to show him the paper when he's better,' Yugi thought. And with that he left Seto's room to find Mokuba.

The entire day continued to go between Yugi checking on Seto, cuddling him, returning to Mokuba, and keeping him entertained, occasionally feeding him. Seto was slowly getting better, however his body continued to ache to no end. A little later during the day they tried water, and he was able to keep it down.

"Why don't you take a shower? It'll make your aching body feel better. Or a bath? I can bathe you!" Yugi piped.

And as such Seto allowed Yugi to give him a bath. Amazingly the bath was just what Seto needed, he felt much better afterwards, still slightly sore, but his headache mostly vanished. Of course, it wasn't until 7:00 at night this happened. It truly was one hellish day.

Yugi was allowed to spend the night one more time, since he had been so good to Seto. Yugi was excited, another sleep over! It must have been a record. On occasion he did sleep over...and yet he noticed it was becoming a more frequent thing...he smiled at the thought.

That night in bed Seto asked Yugi, "Yugi...do you remember our first time?"

Yugi thought for a while, while laying in his lovers arms. "There were alot of 'firsts' Seto, you'll have to be more specific," he said grinning.

Seto nudged Yugi's neck slightly, letting his breath move it's way over Yugi's neck, "I mean...our first time. You know..." Upon saying this Seto pushed his pelvis slightly into Yugi's behind.

Although Seto couldn't see it, Yugi blushed rather deeply. How could he ever forget? Their first time was truly an experience. He remembered Seto was rather reluctant to do it, he was rather unsure of what to do. He was also extremely worried about someone coming in on them, into the room. And of course, he was in pain as Yugi tried to thrust into him. However, Yugi realized Seto was in pain rather quickly, and also recognized the stress and worry on his face. "Relax," he remembered telling him gently, "let go of all your inhibitions and just relax Seto...trust me..." and Seto had trusted him. That next thrust was like heaven to Seto, penetrating deeply and sending shockwaves through his body. Seto had trusted Yugi.

"Of course I remember," Yugi said, "it was really a special moment."

Seto wrapped his arms around Yugi and squeezed him into a tighter hug, "I still love you," he whispered, "even when I'm a grouch. Just...sometimes I'm not sure how to deal with my sexuality, or with people on a general scale. I suppose you could say I put on a show because I'm scared of the world."

Yugi thought for a moment before responding. "And rightfully so, it treated you so poorly. But now the world is making up for that, giving you things, opportunities. At this stage in your life though, you are what you make it...it can either be excellent...or terrible. It's all up to you."

And with that Seto gently kissed Yugi goodnight and they fell asleep.

The next morning started much better. Both Yugi and Seto awoke in the morning, starting the day off with a little bit of a make-out session. Yugi noticed Seto's lips were awfully dry. "Why don't we get some food into you, you must be starving. Can't have you loosing any weight, you're thin enough as it is," Yugi teased.

As they headed downstairs Yugi suddenly remembered the newspaper. He had to show Seto that morning. There was no getting around it.

After Yugi made Seto some breakfast, he sat down at the table, paper in hand.

"Seto," Yugi said.

"Mm?" Seto responded with a mouth full of food.

"I think you should look at this."

Yugi handed Seto the news paper, with the image of the two of them kissing. Seto dropped his fork and placed a hand to his head, suddenly looking utterly shocked, confused, and very, very stressed.

Yugi got up and walked over to Seto and placed his hands on his shoulders. He was extremely worried about the repercussions of this, he wasn't sure how Seto would react. Violently? With sass? He was known to react in such ways. But Seto had been surprising him lately, maybe he would surprise him again.

And Seto did. "What should I do?" Seto asked Yugi, worried.

Yugi thought for a moment. "Create your own coming out story. Life gave you this opportunity. Make of it what you will."

Seto looked at Yugi, with wonder and awe. "You're right," he said, "I can't live a miserable life being so negative all time, being so mean. Maybe I'll try something different."

Yugi smiled. Seto truly was something different.


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7 – Performances: Preparations

Yugi decided to go home to let Seto mull over what course of action he would take in approaching the media. Besides, Yugi had overstayed his stay at Seto's mansion either way, it was time for him to leave.

He reached the gameshop, and upon entering he could hear some music and the familiar thumping of dancing in high heels.

_I want your lovin' and I want your revenge,_

_You and me,_

_Could write a bad romance_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh_

'That's right!' Yugi thought, 'They're practicing for next weekend's Lady Gaga stint the three of us are doing.'

"Hey, Yugi! We're upstairs here, you should change into something comfortable and join us so we can teach you the routine, or what we've got of it so far. You seem to know Lady Gaga's moves better than either of us so maybe you can tweek it" Bakura shouted down the stairs.

Yugi smiled, "I'll be right there!" he shouted back. He ran up the stairs, went into his room, took off all of his tight fitting clothing and put on a plain, black tanktop, grey sweats and grabbed his high heels. He knew he would be needing those.

He entered a room nearby where they typically did their practicing. It was some sort of media and games room that they created, there was a makeshift dance floor to the side with some speakers set up, for the purposes of practicing for drag. Yugi found Marik and Bakura sitting in the middle of the dance floor, with Bakura massaging Marik's feet. "Yugi!" Bakura exclaimed, "so glad you're here, we have so much to show you, what we think we'll do for our show!" Marik looked at Yugi and smiled, "I think it's going to be a real hit," he said.

"Actually..." Yugi said, "I have an idea of my own. But please tell me yours first."

Bakura looked at Marik and Bakura stood up. Bakura managed to make anything look incredibly sexy, he was wearing grey sweat pants and no shirt on at all. It was a new change, since usually Bakura wore a shirt to cover his secretive tattoo, that was no longer a secret amongst them. Marik was wearing tan sweats with a black tank top, he was extremely sensitive about his back tattoos, they had quite a bit of meaning and a connection to his past. He realized his duty, it was fulfilled, but he felt scarred, literally and figuratively. However, seeing Bakura without a shirt on seemed to have loosened Marik up a bit, for his shirt was slightly slipped up. Most of the time Marik hated any part of his back tattoos showing, however, today was different. The couple had a new air of confidence about them.

"Well," Bakura started, " we were thinking of starting off with Marik opening with 'Paparazzi,' and you and I would be backup dancers. Then it would shift to my section, where I would be performing 'Love Game,' as the main dancer, the two of you my back up, then the final shift to 'Bad Romance,' and you Yugi being the lead dancer! We each would have costumes relating to our song."

Yugi smiled, "I like the sound of it, but honestly Bakura, I think you should perform 'Bad Romance,' I know how much you love it!"

Bakura blushed, "Hah, no Yugi, you are the better Gaga dancer, why ruin such a perfect song?"

"Let me tell you my idea."

"I'd like to hear Yugi's idea," Marik stated, finally getting up. He had put on his high heeled shoes again, and was standing on his two feet. He had also decided to fully take off his shirt, following suit with Bakura, "it's so freakin' hot in here..." he muttered to himself.

Yugi was slightly distracted by how toned the two of them were for a moment. He knew Bakura and Marik didn't like this "toned-ness" they had to their bodies, they preferred to keep slim, less muscular bodies to make drag much easier. However, being male, and the way they were built, didn't allow this. Yugi was jealous, he wish he could be more well-toned like them. He snapped out of it and told them of his idea, "Here is what I think we should do, open with 'Paparazzi,' with Marik as planned, but let him dance alone, he will lip sync, and because he is only lip synching, we want all the attention on him. Shift to you, you Bakura will be the main dancer and perform 'Bad Romance' with Marik and I as backup dancers, but I think you should actually sing the song, you have an excellent drag voice."

Bakura smiled sheepishly at this. Even though his voice had dropped to the octave of the spirit's, he could still manage to sing with an extremely feminine voice, it was usually if Bakura sang like this that people would truly question if he was a girl or a boy (if his abs were covered of course).

"All right," Bakura said, "I'll do that. And what are you planning on doing?"

Yugi smiled, "I think I would actually like to perform a song while on the piano, a Lady Gaga song called 'Future Love.' It hasn't been released quite yet but it's online, she's performed it, and I would just really like to sing that to a particular someone..."

Bakura smiled, "sounds like an excellent idea to me! But you'll still be in drag right?" Yugi was an extraordinarily talented pianist, however was usually too nervous to perform in front of a large crowd. However, Seto was hopefully going to be there, so he had a reason...

"Of course! I'll just be using my 'man's' voice to sing, which admittedly will look a bit weird, but heck, it's a performance."

It was all agreed upon and they started to work immediately on their routine. Later in the day, Yugi started to work on his piece with the piano. It was nice to hear the piano fill the empty spaces with sound again, filled with life and love.

Later that evening, Yugi decided to call Seto. "Hey," he said, "so, how've you been?"

"Good," Seto replied curtly. There was a moment of awkward silence. Yugi knew this meant something was up, something was occupying Seto's mind. "Yugi," Seto started to say, "I have an interview tomorrow."

"That's great! What is it about?"

"Of all the people who have called me, I have only agreed to do one interview with a TV station. It's going to be live. If anybody is going to ask me questions about my sexuality, and if I'm going to come out honestly about it, I do not want them fucking up my story."

Yugi grinned widely, "Seto!" he exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you for deciding to come out. This is truly a huge step for you, have you decided what you are going to wear for the interview?"

"I will dress how I always dress. Nothing different. However, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me...it would be nice to have that support on the set, and it would be foolish to deny we are going out since they snapped a picture of us...and I am to tell the truth..."

"Of course I'll come with you! What sort of live interview are you doing?"

"For a news station. I felt it was best."

"Excellent, what time do you want me at your mansion?"

"The interview is at 11. Why don't you come by tonight and stay over, it'll help calm my nerves."

Yugi smiled, "I'll be over momentarily!" he exclaimed.

Yugi ran through the house to find Marik and Bakura sitting in the kitchen eating some leftover dinner from the previous night. "I'm going to stay over at Seto's mansion tonight, he has an interview tomorrow morning he wants me to help him with – he's coming out!"

Marik and Bakura looked at Yugi astonished. "He's coming out?" Marik asked, "wow, that is a really huge step for him. Best of luck to you!"

"Yeah, best of luck, go hurry to your lover and make sweet love to him all night long!" Bakura sang. "And you two will make a bad romance!" he added on in his drag voice, to the tune of 'Bad Romance.'

Yugi chuckled, "You've been practicing!" Bakura chuckled. And within a few minutes he was packed and left to go to Seto's.

He arrived at Seto's mansion, and the rest of the evening was relatively uneventful. Seto was in a stressed mood, he wasn't up to much, however was extremely needy. He was constantly by Yugi's side, holding his hand, grabbing onto him. The two of them mostly kept Mokuba entertained until bedtime, watching movies, playing video games.

When Seto and Yugi went to bed that night, Seto wasn't much in a sexual mood at all. Once again, he simply wanted to hold Yugi, as something warm to have and a comfort for the impending truths he would have to tell of the next morning.

The two awoke bright and early at 8:00 am, so they could both shower, eat and get ready for the day. Yugi decided eggs was relatively quick and healthy, and eggs it was for breakfast. To save time, Yugi and Seto decided to shower together, and also partly for the sexual factor (although there was lack of sex). Seto was much too nervous, he was focussing too much on the interview that day.

When they got out Yugi asked Seto, "You've been so quite since we woke up. What's the matter? You nervous?"

Seto nodded. "I've never done something like this before, it's rather...odd. After this interview who knows what could happen, I could loose business, I could gain some. However, most importantly I don't want my reputation to be ruined."

Yugi walked over to Seto and hugged him tight (both were still in towels), "You'll be fine. And don't worry what other people think. Just continue being your grouchy old self" he teased.

Seto blew his hair dry. He wanted it to look especially fresh and clean for the interview. He then went into his close to pick out an outfit to wear. He found one, put it on and showed Yugi, who showered him with much praise over what he chose. "It's your decision Seto," Yugi reminded him, "you wear what you want, be yourself."

Seto had chosen to wear a purple long sleeved shirt, black pants and his Kaiba Corp. belt. He wore, as always, his card shaped locket with the picture of Mokuba in it, around his neck. He also had asked Yugi if he could borrow his choker, and Yugi thought it looked quite good on him.

"No trench coat?" Yugi teased.

"Not today. I better go simple..." Seto replied. "Do I look ok? You sure this will be fine?" Seto was still checking himself over in the mirror, worried about his appearance.

Yugi laughed, "Stop worrying so much Seto. First of all, do you feel like yourself in this outfit? Is it something you would normally wear?" Yugi was only asking Seto to reassure Seto, Yugi knew the answer would be yes.

"Of course, I wear this sort of thing all the time when I'm not in a trench coat..." Seto responded.

"Then don't worry. And lets go, we'll be late." Yugi stretched out his hand for Seto's, who grabbed it.

With his other hand Seto touched Yugi's choker around his neck. It was a reminder to him that Yugi was always with him, even though Yugi was going to be in the studio. It was more than that. It was a reminder of how much Yugi loved him. Yugi always wore that choker.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8 – Media: Interview

Seto and Yugi arrived at the TV station right on time – an hour before the interview was scheduled to start. Yugi of course knew Seto was nervous, but he put on an excellent game face. The only thing that could possibly give away his nervousness was how his eyes darted everywhere, looking at everything, constantly re-checking over everything to see if it was all still there. Yugi put a hand on Seto's arm, "You'll be fine," he said, and Seto smiled.

"Excellent! You're here!" said one of the cameramen approaching Seto and Yugi. Yugi immediately retracted his hand from Seto's arm and shoved his hands in his pockets, knowing how much Seto hated being seen in public with Yugi, especially in any sort of physical touching sort of way. In the past, Seto feared he might be outed by someone seeing the two of them simply walking down a street discussing trivial matters such as a card game. Yugi saw the nonsense, but it was Seto's over controlling personality that got the best of him.

However today was different. Seto reached out and gently grabbed Yugi's arm and pulled it out of his pocket, then slid his hand to meet Yugi's, and they started to walk into the studio. Yugi could not help but blush, this was a first he was certainly not used to.

"Oh, and Yugi's your boyfriend I take it? I remember you mentioned you would be bringing him, how sweet!," the camera man said. "How long have you two been dating?"

"A while now. A little over a year." Seto answered.

"Wow, and you've kept in the closet for that long? This truly is incredible!"

"Yes, it really is," Yugi said, "it's been quite a ride."

"I could only imagine," the camera man remarked, "but I guess today changes alot, huh? Well, here we are in the studio. Here's how this is going to work – you Yugi are going to stay over there," he pointed to the camera filming the news cast occurring, "with me. You Seto at some point will be called over to the chair over there," he pointed to a section of the set that contained two chairs, and a simple coffee table in the middle, "about 15 minutes before the interview starts. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me, let's get this over with," Seto remarked.

Yugi and Seto waited around until Seto was called over to the interview station. Yugi remained with the camera man as told.

A woman sat across from Seto, and started to chat with him, introducing herself and such. Then, the camera's pointed towards the two of them sitting there, and the interview started.

"Good morning, my name is Lea Raphie, and I'm here with the CEO of Kaiba Corp – Seto Kaiba, to discuss some rather recent gossip that spread about him recently, of being gay. " the woman said. She then turned to Seto, "I'm glad we could have you here this morning Mr. Kaiba, welcome and good morning."

"Morning," Seto nodded.

"So lets start with the most obvious question at hand here Mr. Kaiba – are you gay?"

Seto smiled. "I can assure you that I am indeed a homosexual."

"Wow, I'm amazed you're coming off so boldly and clean about it! Well then, lets discuss then how the rumor spread – we all saw the papers not too long ago, with that huge, blaring title and that photograph of someone who resembled a woman kissing another man. Tell me about that."

Seto gave his cocky chuckle, shifted in his chair and launched into an explanation, "Let's just say I had a bit too much to drink that night. I was heading to a club that night, and I had dressed up in drag that night to try and hide my identity to the best of my ability, my boyfriend did the make up for me. I was terrified of being outed, hence the drag. Well, from what I'm told, I used my natural voice on accident a couple of times, a few people noticed, connected it to me, as being the tallest drag there was slightly odd, and made the connection, and took a few pictures then it just went straight to the paparazzi."

"Wow, incredible. So then, what made you decide to come out instead of hiding further, by the sounds of it you took extreme measures to hide it?"

"I guess you could say I was cornered. It was either come out and try to come clean or, continue hiding with these constant rumours. I can't let rumours build, especially if people make up things about me. It ruins business you know. "

Lea laughed, "So let's talk about the picture taken then!" she motioned to the people in the studio controlling the screens. A screen next to Seto and Lea flashed, bringing up the image. She gestured towards it, "So, this is the image associated with that news article. This really seems like quite an impressive drag here! Can you tell me a little bit about who you're supposed to be, and the idea behind it?"

Seto smiled slightly, leaning forward slightly and looking at the image, and back at Lea, "I called myself Blaire Dragoon that night. As you know, I have a passion for the Blue Eyes White Dragon, so of course I couldn't deviate from that. I kept to the same colour theme, blue and white, with the white dress and blue wig. The makeup however was completely up to my boyfriend, I asked him to try and make me as unrecognizable as possible."

"I can see quite a bit of work was put into the makeup especially! From what I can tell, if you just randomly walked in here like that I would never know it's you. They did quite an excellent job!"

Seto laughed, "He surely did."

"So then tell me," Lea said leaning in slightly closer, "who's that you're kissing in the photo? I hope it's not another scandal waiting to be unravelled!"

Seto's eyes widened in shock slightly, "Oh no!" he said, "that's definitely my boyfriend. Even when under the influence I would never cheat on my significant other." He smiled.

"Oh thank goodness!" Lea said, "So, Yugi is your boyfriend then? I mean everybody knows it's Yugi, nobody can deny it's not him there!"

Seto smiled wider, "Yes, Yugi Moto is my boyfriend and has been one of the best people in my life. It was actually him that inspired me to come clean about this whole mess." In the studio, Yugi put his hand up to his face and smiled in awe at Seto.

"That is incredibly sweet!" Lea remarked, smiling and placing a hand on her chest. "So tell me then," she said, "I guess you like to ride on top?"

Seto smiled and raised an eyebrow, "No Lea, I actually prefer the bottom. You see, I like to separate work and play, and during play it's nice to be something I'm not always. It gives you a sense of reality." All the while Yugi had just stared at Seto in complete amazement that he would declare such a thing about their sex life, he couldn't help but blush and turn away slightly, smiling all the while. "However," Seto continued, "we really shouldn't be talking about such things on here, I mean, children may be watching."

"Oh you're right!" Lea said, "we can keep that for off screen. Well, I also wanted to ask you, how long had you been in the closet for?"

"Ever since I started dating Yugi, bringing it to just a little over a year."

"it must've been tough."

"It was. I was extremely paranoid about people outing me, or discovering me. I was worried about slightly trivial things such as walking down the street with him. But I think...I think I'm ready to change that." Seto smiled again, thinking about Yugi but keeping focus on Lea, as to not draw attention to off screen. Yugi truly was an inspirational person to him.

"So..how did you two get together? I know you two knew each other for a long time before hand but...how did you 'seal the deal' so to speak?"

"Yugi came out as gay quite a long time ago, before we graduated high school. After we graduated he and I kept in touch, he was pretty much one of my only 'friends,' I had never had many in my life. Apparently, he developed a crush on me, I mean, how could he not, I am extremely attractive. Anyways, after a certain point he started to invite me to outings more frequently with his friends. I declined most of the time, but on occasion I would come out. It was mostly because he would invite me over to hang out with his gay friends, and at the time, I didn't think I was gay. Even though I had never had a girlfriend or thought much about women in that way. Either way, it was actually Mokuba who did the communication. He would go over to Yugi's game shop every now and then, and overhear him talking to Marik and Bakura about how cute and adorable I was. Mokuba would come back to me and relay this information."

"Were you at all appalled by this?"

"To be honest, no I wasn't appalled, I was shocked. I was shocked that anybody would take a liking to me initially, and second, that it was a man. I was fine with gay people, I just didn't think I was gay. However, I did start to fantasize about Yugi, and that's when I became extremely confused. I started to hang out with him more often, trying to notice his flirtatious gestures, and they surely were there!"

"Oooh, what did Yugi do to flirt with you?"

Seto chuckled, "He would do many simple things, like hold the door open for me, trying to be chivalrous. Or sometimes he would offer to buy my lunch, when he knew I could afford it. He would take interest in my life and more."

"Ok, so how did you decide you were gay?"

"It was Mokuba who helped me alot actually. He was the one who told me to go for it, try it out. If it didn't work out, it wouldn't work out. But why not try? He then made the excellent point about how I never had a girlfriend, never talked about women or even taking interest in them, and my sense of fashion..." Seto said this as he gestured to his outfit. "I thought about it and realized Mokuba was right. So I embraced the unknown, and there are a few other experimental things I tried before diving in with Yugi, and those experimental things started to convince me more that I was gay, but not completely. Then one night, I went to a party Yugi was having at his house, Yugi got slightly drunk, and pretty much forced himself on me, " Seto laughed at the memory, "I allowed him, he didn't rape me or anything. He was just very...bold. And it was that night I had my first kiss, and I knew immediately from that that I was gay. And we've been going out ever since, and I haven't been happier."

"That is an incredible story Seto, just amazing! Well, I know you brought Yugi with you to the studio today, why don't we bring him up?"

Seto smiled and gestured towards Yugi, standing in the studio room blushing deeply and smiling. He made his way over to Seto and sat next to him on the chair – the chair was fairly large, able to fit two people. Seto placed an arm around Yugi's waist, and Yugi relaxed immensely.

"Yugi!" Lea said, "this truly is incredible. I remember you came out quite some time ago, it did make the news since you are a champion duellist. Tell me, how do you feel about Seto coming out?"

Yugi grinned, "I feel so relieved, and proud of him. It really is a huge step to come out for some people, I know so many stories. For some it's quite easy, just a breeze in the wind, while for others, it's almost impossible and they keep themselves closeted. It feels as if a weight has now been lifted, and now, Seto doesn't have to keep worrying anymore. Well, he might!" Yugi laughed, "but things won't be the same at least. I'm extremely proud of him."

Lea smiled widely at them, "That is incredibly sweet! You two are such a cute couple. I can see that you are both very happy together. Well, I'm afraid we're out of time, but best of luck to you both, and your bright futures ahead. This is Lea Raphie, here with Kaiba Corp CEO Seto Kaiba and his boyfriend Yugi Moto, and have a wonderful day!"

With that Seto turned his head to Yugi, took in a deep breath and came upon Yugi with a swift, sweet kiss. He dared to do this on camera, Seto wanted everybody to know how gay he was now that he was out. He felt as if he was on top of the world. This kiss was brief, deep, passionate and full of life. When Seto pulled away he could see Yugi's eyes flowing with tears, smiling. Seto smiled back at his lover.

In the background they could hear Lea give a short "awe!" of adoration, tears almost forming at her own eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9 – Date: Lunch

Seto and Yugi sat in Seto's sleek, red sports car driving away from the T. V. station. An idea popped into Seto's head. "Hey Yugi, are you hungry?" he asked.

Yugi glanced at the clock. It read 12:30. "Hm I am a little and it is lunch time, why do you ask?" Yugi responded.

"Why don't we find somewhere to eat. Out. I'm feeling ambitious, plus I'm starving."

Yugi giggled. True, Seto hadn't eaten much that morning due to nerves, and with his lightning-fast metabolism he would certainly feel the effects of hunger much more. "Where would you suggest?"

"That's a surprise," Seto responded with a grin playing at his mouth.

It wasn't too long before the red car turned into the parking lot of a well known Italian restaurant. Whenever Seto ate out, he always liked eating top quality food, rarely entering any chain restaurant establishments. They got out of the car and before Yugi could go anywhere, he found his hand inside the warm grasp of Seto's.

They walked into the restaurant and got a seat. It was so new to Yugi, he hadn't been in a nice restaurant in a while. Mostly because he couldn't afford it. On occasion Bakura would take him and Marik out but Yugi always felt bad about taking more of Bakura's money, so more recently he refused. He couldn't refuse Seto. "This certainly is nice!" he said aloud.

"Yeah, it's one of my favourite places. I wanted our first...date to be somewhere nice." Seto said.

"So this...officially is a date?"

"Our first public date, unless you want me to make it any clearer."

Yugi smiled, "No! It's quite clear enough to me!" he paused for a moment to look at the menu briefly. "I'm glad you are starting to feel comfortable enough to be seen in public with me."

"It's only the next logical step Yugi, really. I mean why wouldn't I be seen with you in public, everybody already knows we're dating, there's photographic evidence of that. I can't keep hiding it, so why not just sit back and enjoy this while we can."

The two boys looked through their menu, ordering drinks to start. Yugi wasn't expecting Seto to pay for him, so of course he tried looking for something cheap and affordable – such as a salad. The waitress came to take their orders, and Yugi let Seto go first. Seto ordered some pasta dish that Yugi didn't quite know of, because he skipped over that section of the menu, determining he couldn't afford it. "I'll just have a garden salad please," Yugi told the waitress.

"Nonsense, he'll have the Tortellini, I know he'll like that," Seto told the waitress, changing Yugi's order. "My treat Yugi, remember it's our date and I'm paying."

"Really Seto you don't have to..."

"It's a date and I'm paying. Or unless you just want to go home and not have anything and ruin the whole thing?"

"No..."

"Then I advise you to just shut up and enjoy yourself. Relax."

Yugi smiled at Seto. He could get used to this!

Their food came, and they started to eat. Seto was right, Yugi did quite enjoy his meal! However Yugi noticed a change in Seto's actions. He was avoiding looking towards the door, by staring at his food, or just looking in the opposite direction. Plus his eating had slowed. Yugi decided to take a peek. Just as he did he noticed some older men being led to a table, all wearing business suits. There were three in total, and just when Yugi thought they were going to be led away they stopped and approached their table, surrounding his Seto.

"Well, fancy seeing you here Mr. Kaiba," one of the men in suits said in a deep, gruff voice. "I saw your interview this morning, bit of a cocky move you made there?"

"There was nothing cocky about doing an interview, but the actual interview itself wouldn't be the same unless I wasn't cocky," Seto responded, turning his head to face the men.

"And how ironic, for it seems you now like cocks."

"Hm, it appears I do. The bigger the better."

The man turned beet red in the face, anger fuelling inside him, "Well I can assure you that we at DigiCorp will no longer be doing business with you. We do not want to be associated with some frilly fag and his twisted ideas of technology! It's not natural!" the man spat in Seto's face.

"What isn't natural, my ideas or sexuality?" Seto coolly responded.

"Both, in fact. Fags aren't supposed to exist, and therefore neither their ideas. You are a disgrace to humankind you know that? Men are supposed to be with women, not other men! It's twisted, wrong, and disgusting."

"Have you at all cared to do any research before attacking me as such? There has been evidence found to show homosexuality does exist in other animals."

"Pff, those researchers, they're making it all up. Because how are you supposed to reproduce if you don't have a woman?"

"Simple, adopt, or find a carrier."

"You disgust me. You, and your unnatural, faggy ways. How am I supposed to associate with your company? How do I know that you suddenly won't start promoting fag shit?"

"You know, I do not appreciate your use of the term 'fag." Seto started to glare at the man speaking to him. Yugi just idly sat back, trying to make himself smaller as to avoid being dragged into the conversation. He knew that there was no way he could help Seto here, it was his battle, and it was evident that Seto wanted to win this on his own.

The man spat at Seto's feet. "You're nothing but dirt on the ground, lower maybe. I'll say whatever I like. You are a fag, a faggity fag. See? I said it. We're through doing business."

Seto stood up to his full height, towering over the man by a few inches. "You know what, yeah I like to suck cock, but so what? And so what if Kaiba Corp. starts to support gay rights, in fact start making rainbow coloured duel disks? You know, maybe I will do that. But when you find yourself at the bottom of the business pool flopping around like helpless fish and you see a flamboyant Kaiba Corp. on top, you'll be sorry you ever quit doing business with me."

"As if, I would rather be caught dead than doing business with a fag." With that the man turned on his heel and stormed away with his fellow men.

Seto slumped back into his seat, putting a hand to his head for a brief moment. "Fuck..." he murmured to himself, and then he then removed it and returned to eating. "Hey Seto..." Yugi started.

"Don't fret over what just happened, it doesn't concern you," Seto said softly. "I can handle it. It's business matters."

"But it seemed as if it was really important."

"It was," Seto said sighing. "DigiCorp was a huge partner with Kaiba Corp., but we can manage without them. It's not like anything I haven't handled before, it's just stressful."

Yugi reached out and placed his hand on Seto's, "It will be alright. Coming out is never easy."

"Hmph," Seto grumbled. "They don't know what they're missing out on."

Yugi chuckled. "No, they sure don't."

They finished eating, and Seto paid the bill. As they approached the car Seto's cell phone rang, he checked it. "Do you mind if I take this?" Seto asked Yugi, "I've never seen this number before, and I'm curious."

"Sure, go right ahead!" Yugi responded cheerfully. He went into the car, and just hoped that the call would bring something good, making Seto happy.

Seto stepped into the car and started the engine. "So?" Yugi asked.

"Apparantly a fashion line wants to do some business with me," Seto said with a smile playing at his lips.

"Is this a good thing for you or just another one of those 'I could care less' things?"

Seto looked at his lover. "Yugi – really? Do you need to ask? Honestly, or do I need to even say it?"

It hit Yugi, he always knew it just he blanked for a moment. He grinned and said, "Yeah, but I want to hear you say it!"

"Ngrrrr..." was all Seto's response was.

"Come on, say it! Don't be so embarrassed by it, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm sure every gay man is jealous of you, even though I'm only making assumptions as to what it is."

"Fine, I fucking love fashion and this opportunity has made me ecstatic." Seto started the engine and started to drive away.


	10. Chapter 10

Part 10 – Clubbing: Performance

The days leading to Yugi's drag performance were flying away fast. There weren't that many to begin with anyways, and it seemed as if no time passed at all before Yugi was preparing for that night.

A lot of things happened in those few days. Seto had lost more business, and gained some. There were tense moments between him and Yugi, others loving. But what really seemed to distract Seto the most was the fashion gig he got. Yugi had always known Seto was into fashion, even before dating him, simply by what he always wore, and the fact it had "Kaiba Corp" labelled on some of his clothes, indicating he designed it. Yugi chuckled as he recalled the conversation they had about it the evening after the lunch incident over the phone:

"Seto, so tell me, how long have you been into fashion?" Yugi cooed over the line.

"A while," Seto replied with a flat monotone.

"Well, it only really became evident to me after Duelist Kingdom, because you wore that flamboyant purple trench coat with chains and everything. You really seem to like shoulder pads."

"Look, stop teasing me about it. I'm embarrassed enough as is. And to answer your question, before I was even adopted I liked clothes."

"Why are you embarrassed, I thought you loved this sort of stuff."

"I do..."

"Then what are you embarrassed about?"

"For similar reasons to not wanting to come out of the closet, I have an image to uphold."

"But why uphold an image that isn't true about you? Honestly Seto, lots of people have already speculated your love of clothing, it isn't exactly hidden."

"..."

"Hey, listen, I understand this is all new and frightening to you, but sometimes you have to learn to just love yourself for who you are, and just go for it. You'll be much happier if you can just be yourself. Trust me."

"Thanks Yugi, but it's alot easier said than done."

"I know, I know, but try for me, ok?"

"Hmph."

"Oh! And you do know Bakura is in that industry too, he's actually quite a well known fashion designer. It's what he does for a living. And he uses Marik as a model, so if you ever want to know more about the industry and how it works, or pass ideas by him, you can always give him a call."

"Really? I didn't know that's what he did for a living."

"Seto, you don't know what most people do for a living, because you never cared to find out."

"Anyways Yugi, it's been lovely chatting with you but I have some work I must catch up on. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, good luck. Love you, Seto."

"Mmhmm, you too."

Yugi reached for his makeup bag, and sat down in front of his mirror. He felt like he had learned something new about Seto that day but yet again, it wasn't anything new. Maybe it felt new because Seto had confirmed his suspicions? Could be. Yugi started to dab at his face with foundation.

The hour passed by and the three boys were ready and dragged up in their respective Gaga costumes. They had perfected their performance: Marik would perform first, lip synching to "Paparazzi", then all three would be on stage with Bakura singing "Bad Romance," and finally, they would leave the stage, and let Yugi play away on the piano and sing, "Greatest." He felt "Future Love," wasn't quite the right choice for how he felt right now. He knew it wasn't a released song yet, but it was feeling right for the occasion.

"Hey, where is Kaiba?" Bakura asked Yugi, "I thought you said he was going to come if you were dragging it up?"

"He did," Yugi said, "He had some work to finish up tonight so he said he would meet us there, most likely after the performance. But he said he would be there to watch us."

Bakura nodded, "alright, as long as he's there, you have quite a treat in store for him with that song of yours."

Yugi nodded and smiled. They left the gameshop and headed to the club a few blocks down the street from them and entered. Yugi couldn't help but scan the vicinity for his Seto, but so far Seto was not there. 'He'll be here,' Yugi thought to himself, 'he said he would come, and would most likely meet us after the performance. He'll be here.'

Not much time had seemed to have passed before their performance was starting. "Paparazzi," went smoothly, as Marik seduced the audience, receiving cat calls and cheers. As Marik finished his performance and squatted to the ground upon the blackout of the stage, signalling for Yugi and Bakura to come and take their positions, Bakura quickly turned to Yugi and asked, "hey, Yugi, you ok?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine..." Yugi responded.

"Don't worry about a thing, you'll do fine. I'm sure he's out there."

Yugi smiled and nodded. He would just have to trust Seto. "All right, come on!" Bakura piped after Yugi, as they pranced onto the stage taking their positions. The boys whirled their way through the song, twirling, and twitching, Bakura falsetto-ing, and it was glorious. Finally, it was Yugi's turn to perform his song, as the piano rolled out and he sat down.

He took his wig off and shook his hair. It wasn't spiked up as it should have been, but fell neatly around his shoulders. He spoke in his regular voice, "I know I look like a girl," he said, "but gender shouldn't matter right now." He could feel himself starting to choke up a little, stage fright always got the best of him. But he pushed onwards, "Tonight, I want to dedicate this song to my partner, Seto Kaiba." He scanned the audience quickly to see if he could find his Seto, but to no avail. However, he had faith and played the first few chords of the song and sang.

Yugi closed his eyes and imagined the audience wasn't there. Instead, inside his little head, the only audience present was his Seto. He was singing "Greatest," by Lady Gaga to his Seto, about how wonderful Seto was, and how he was the greatest to him. He loved that boy so much. He would do anything for his Seto. He found himself really getting into it, and the fact that the audience wasn't talking really helped him focus on the imaginary image of Seto in his mind. In his mind Seto was smiling, maybe actually getting emotional at how Yugi was singing. There were a few sniffs from the real audience. It further helped Yugi's imagination. Finally, he finished, and there was a roar of applause.

Yugi opened his eyes and faced the audience, who were all cheering and jeering for him. "Bravo!" he heard. "Fan-fucking-tastic!" "You have a beautiful voice!" "More!" So much praise, so much applause, Yugi could feel his eyes starting to well up with tears of joy as he scanned the audience once again. However, after sweeping his eyes across twice, Seto wasn't there. He missed the performance. He said he would be there. A tear fell from Yugi's eye, not of joy from the praise, but of an intense depression threatening to take over.

"Yugi!" Bakura exclaimed as Yugi came backstage. "You did AMAZING! That was incredible! Wow, you really are something else, that is so incredibly sweet you sang such a wonderful ballad to Kaiba...I'm sure he's impressed...hey Yugi, what's wrong?"

Yugi sniffed. "Seto isn't here."

Bakura's eyes widened in shock, then he extended his arms in comfort, which Yugi embraced needily. "Awe, there now hun, I'm sure he didn't mean to miss out on such a lovely performance, he must have good reason." Yugi just dug his head into Bakura's shoulder more. He had prepared so much! Why would Seto miss out on this? He said he would come, it was the reason why Yugi was doing this...

"Hey, why don't you go down to his house and see what's up. Obviously a phone call is out of the question right now, I don't know if you can even get a word out. I'll get you a cab, here..." Bakura whipped out his cell phone and walked Yugi outside to the cool night, arm around Yugi in comfort. Moments later a cab came up to the curb, and drove Yugi away to Seto's mansion.

When Yugi got to the mansion he thanked the cab driver, and gave him a bit of a tip – Bakura was nice enough to pay, and Yugi would have refused but he was too depressed to speak up for himself. He approached the large gates, punched in the code, and entered. He walked up to the door, trying to dry his eyes on his arms. He swallowed hard as he knocked on the door.

Yugi was greeted by an obviously frustrated and upset Seto, looking down at him, glass in hand. Yugi could smell the contents of the glass from where he was standing – was Seto drinking at home? Was that why he missed his performance? Tears started to reappear at Yugi's eyes, emotions speaking rather than logic, "So is this why you didn't come tonight? For some stupid drinks?"

Seto glared at Yugi, "I have not been drinking. This is the first, I haven't even taken a sip. I literally just mixed it as you knocked on the door, don't make such assumptions."

"So, then why ARE you going to drink then?" Tears had cascaded down Yugi's face by now.

"I need to escape for a little bit, I need to just get the fuck out of here into my own world where nothing can bother me! Can't you see I'm a bit stressed out right now, I can't deal with your drama right now Yugi."

"Oh, MY drama? It's more like OUR drama than just MINE." Yugi came into the house and Seto shut the door.

"What do you mean our drama, you come here on my doorstep in tears. What the hell is the matter, and I warn you I have one nerve left so I can't promise..."

"You missed my performance."

"What?"

"You missed my performance. The performance I worked so hard on just so you could see. You missed it..." Yugi couldn't help but break down, holding his head in his hands. What was wrong with Seto?

Seto was slightly taken aback, "Right..." he said. He remembered now. The events of the night had gone by so fast he had completely forgotten to go to that. He remembered marking it down on the calendar. "Yugi, I'm sorry – "

"You're sorry? That's all? Sorry isn't going to cut it this time!" Yugi choked out between sobs.

"I'm sorry, I really meant to come but I had some of my own drama happen here at the mansion tonight, preventing me from coming." Seto tried to keep his voice calm, he learned yelling wasn't going to solve anything based on what happened earlier. Plus his voice was feeling tired. He put a hand to his head.

Yugi looked up at his lover. "Drama? What sort of drama could be so important to prevent you from –"

"Mokuba." Seto sighed.

Yugi felt somewhat of a weight lifted. If it was drama revolving around Mokuba, then it must have been important. There were only two important people in Seto's life – him and Mokuba, and even if the drama was slight it still meant a lot to Seto, because he cherished him. He was his only family. "Oh...what happened?" Yugi asked.

Seto turned his face away from Yugi, rubbing his forehead with his hand, drink in the other. He looked down at the glass and as he brought it up to his lips he felt Yugi's hands clasp around the glass and take it away from him. "Not now Seto, if it's the sort of thing that's going to make you drink, it has to be important. Look, I forgive you for not coming, I realize it must be something pretty important that happened. You can tell me, I won't get mad," Yugi said as he took the glass away and set it on the table. He led Seto to a nearby couch and sat down, motioning him to do the same.

Seto sat down, holding his head for a minute. He felt terrible inside. First Mokuba, and now he missed Yugi's performance. How could he forgive himself? Yugi had forgiven him but he felt he screwed up big time. This whole 'coming out' thing was much harder than he thought. "Mokuba..." he started.

"Mokuba what?" Yugi prodded.

"Mokuba came to me asking for bottom surgery."

Yugi's eyes widened in shock. "He what?"

"He came to me asking for bottom surgery. Apparently Mokuba is transgendered, and transitioned about a year ago without me knowing, minus the surgery. I have no idea how he did it, he managed to hide everything so well...I'm surprised the doctor's didn't tell me anything. Obviously he wanted to keep it a huge secret from me, but I don't understand why...he can tell me anything..."

"So what happened tonight?"

"We had a bit of a yelling match. I was upset with him. I wasn't upset with him for the fact that he was transgendered but for the fact that he didn't tell me and couldn't trust me, but I don't think he got that. He's up in his room now, terrified. I have no idea what to do, or how to get across to him..."

Yugi stood up and hugged Seto close. "Let me help fix this for you," and he kissed him lightly on the forehead. "All is forgiven Seto, that is pretty drastic. Seems like another Kaiba is coming out. I'll go get him...or rather her. You need to tell Mokuba why you yelled at...her, and that you aren't mad. You need to fix this."

Seto looked down, "Yugi I'm really sorry, I feel horrible. I've screwed two things up. I swear I knew you were performing tonight but...this just happened so fast and...really Yugi...you're the best."

Yugi smiled. "Seto, I know you. I know I got a bit out of hand, but my emotions and stage fright got the better of me, but if I were thinking correctly I know that you would never miss something unless there was something important going on, such as this. Drama with your now sister is never good, he's you're only family. I understand."

Seto smiled slightly and shrugged his arms. "Just one thing," Yugi said as he started to leave the room, "don't start drinking without me. We're still having a good time tonight."

"Fine, but not until after I've fixed this mess."

"Of course, you need to do that sober! But afterwards," Yugi shifted his eyebrows, "once Mokuba is out of our hair, we can have some fun."

Seto chuckled to himself. He would give Yugi one hell of a ride to make up for the night's loss. "However," he called to Yugi as he was walking away, "I want to hear that song of yours you worked so hard on. Sober. You'll play it for me tonight, and maybe Mokuba if he...I mean she wants to hear."


End file.
